handsful

Last week was…how shall I put it?  Busy times infinity.  And, given Randy was out of town for a lot of it, the brunt of the comings and goings (and comings and…) were on me.  I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see the weekend come.

Not that things slowed down much.  Or, at all.  But, at least my sweet husband was home, and we could tag-team like usual.

I’ll start with Friday.  That afternoon, Dylan went to the birthday party of his best buddy.  I picked him up afterwards and we rushed home so that I could curl Abbey’s hair.  Her friend Aaron arrived from Raleigh just a little before I got home…he and his mom made the special trip so that he could take her to the prom.

Abbey and Aaron have known each other for years, his family was in a church small group we hosted back when the big kids were little kids.  Since moving to FL and then moving back, the’vey re-connected through FB and now Skype all the time.

They had a great time.  We’re thankful that our kids get to experience things like proms, despite being home schooled.  This one was planned by a local homeschooling group, and they went all out with beautiful invites, engraved glass mugs, and gorgeous decorations.

Saturday morning came early, and we had somewhere to be.  Our annual Easter egg-hunt at Gram and Pa-Paul’s house.  Yes, we know it’s past Easter…but, finding a date where we could all make it was a little tricky.  As usual, it was all 8 of us, along with Randy’s brother’s family…minus Caleb and Samara who couldn’t get away from college.  Gram’s Sunday school teacher, his wife, and their two little girls joined us this year, too.  And, Aaron, who was driving back to Raleigh (same direction we were going), decided last minute to stay as well.

The required pre-hunt picture on the porch

Ready, set, go!

The older kids, who graduated to “hiders” instead of “hunters” quite a while ago, goofed around while waiting for their turn…Gram does a scavenger hunt for them to find their treats.

Even the big, big kids goofed around…

Payton lends Micah a hand at getting the highest egg…

Gram’s system…find eggs, dump them into the big bucket (by the way, she had about 40 eggs per kid, for 6 kids).  Then, we go inside and divide the eggs based on the sticker on the egg (i.e. red smiley=Lainey).

Time for the teens…

Read the clue, run all over the place, read the next clue, etc.  This year, she had all their goodies hiding in their car trunk.

Back inside to open the eggs…it gets a little crazy, as the adults divide up the eggs and toss them to their owners.

We left around 8:30, getting home at 11ish.  Head to bed, tired from a great day.

Sunday.  Randy took the big kids to church, while I stayed home with the littles.  I seriously needed a little break from the going and going, and me being home meant I could cook lunch for them rather than spending money on fast food (like we tend to do too much on Sundays).

He got home with the four big kids, as well as three extra teens (it’s the usual).  We ate, and Randy was soon off with a few of them to Testify drama / dance practice.  I hung back, and took the others (having added even one more teen in the meantime) to the practice to meet up for their first performance of the year.

This was just a mini-concert…only a few songs, a little dancing, and no acting.  But, Marley and Kylie got to sing their duet, and they did a great job.  Happy to have that first one under their belts :)

After the concert, I dropped Marley and Ethan back at home, and drove to church for another drama / acting practice.  Payton and Abbey both have acting and dance parts, so their Sundays are always full of practices.  Their first full concert is May 12th!

That was our weekend.  After an exhausting week, it was still busy but lots of fun.

And, this week so far? Blissfully boring.  Ahhhh…..